Truck for portable tracks



(No Model.) v R. BAUMG-ARTNER.

TRUCK FOR PORTABLE TRACKS. No. 271,020. Patented Jan. 23,1 83.

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v NITED STATES PATENT Farce.

RUDOLPH BAUMGARTNER, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

TRUCK FoR PORTABLE TRACKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,020, dated January23, 1883.

' Application filed July 26, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it 'may concern Be it known that I, RUDOLPH BAUMGART- NER,of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Trucks for PortableTracks, of which the following is a a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The object of the invention is to make trucks specially adapted toportable plank roads or tracks used on sugar-plantations, especiallyinwet weather.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a longitudinal partlysectional elevation of myimproved road with trucks mounted thereon and as connected fortransportation over the same. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line.90 m in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan "iew of the plank-road, and Fig. 4 aplan of a double whiffletree that may be used in connection with thetrucks. j

Under the system heretofore pursued of hauling the cane from the fieldto the sugar-house by means of carts or ordinary wagons much labor andexpense is incurred, and in wet weather, when the roads are muddy, it isnot unfrequently the case that much of a crop is lost, owing to it beingfound impossible to haul it.

My invention obviates all these difficulties, and possesses manyadvantages, as will be hereinafter explained.

The plank road or track is made exceedingly light, so that it may bereadily removed from placeto place, and is simple in construction,requiring very little more than a few boards and nails. It has a broadbearing-surface on the ground, thus adapting it to boggy lands.

The construction of it is mainly as follows: A A are boards ofabouteightinches wide and one and a quarter inch thick, (more or less,)arranged in parallel lines at aboutthree feet apart, to form the railson which the trucks run, and having strips bb, of aboutone and ahalfinch by twoinches in their transverse section, fastened upon theiroutside edges to keep the wheels of the trucks from running off. Theserails are united by cross-ties c 0, arranged at about four or five feetapart, (more or less.) Each pair of to eighteen feet in length, (more orless,) to provide for the easy handling and removal or replacement ofthewooden roadway. Said sections are held together by strips 1) D,secured on the outside to the ends of either one of said sections, so asto project beyond their ends, and forming sockets for the adjacent ndsof the nextcontiguous section.

The trucks designed to be run upon this wooden roadway are constructedsubstantially as follows: Each truck E is formed of or with two sidesills, d d, united by two end sills, e e, and one center sill, c. Thisframe-work is set on or supported by a central pair of wheels, f f, bymeans of bracesg g. At each of the four corners of this frame, on thetop of it, are mounted four angle-iron pieces, h h, to form pockets forreception within them of the body 1; of the truck. I

The trucks are coupled together as follows: A flat bar of iron, 7r, isarranged lengthwise under the center of the frame of each truck, whichbar has open horizontal mouths H at rails is formed in sections B O,ofabout fourteen each end to receive within them a long flatconnecting-link, m, which is united with the adjacent mouth ends, 1 l,of each contiguous truck by locking-pins a at.

These trucks may be moved by hand by means of a removable handle havingeither single or double shafts. For holding the removable handle on thetruck, the same may be inserted in staples 1*,secured on theinside andat each end of the side sills, d d,- or a half-staple, s, having aholethrough it, may be attached to the handle for the insertion ofacoupling-pin, s. For moving a line of trucks, a double whiffletree, F,as shown in Fig. 4, may be substituted for the handle, and mules orother cattle be hitched to the same, or a single whiffletree may beused.

The body 13 of each truck is a simple box of about three feet wide byseven feetlong and fifteen or eighteen inches deep, more orless,) withits sides flaring outward in an upward direction. One side of this boxisleft loose and secured below by-three or more pins, to, that may beslightly curved to fit into corresponding eyes in the body, and be heldto its place at top by means of a spring, 0, and pin to.

The trucks E, constructed as described, are

admirably adapted for haulingsugar'cane, and, each being balanced on apair of wheels only, are well suited for a wooden roadway of thedescription specified. The cost of such a roadway and trucks for aplantation would be much less than the cost of the usual carts andwagons. There would be very little wear, and a single mule would be ableto haul much more cane than four mules would with carts and wagons;also, a less number of hands would be required to load the trucks, andin wet weather or on boggy lands there would be no difficulty in movingthe entire crop from the field to the sugar-house. Again, the caneneeded for a days grinding could be dumped on the carrier as it comesfrom the fields, and for night grinding could be piled up within thirtyfeet of the carrier, instead of, as is now customary with carts andwagons, dumping the load at a distance of one hundred to one hundred andfifty yards from the carrier.

By means of the trucks one man could dump more cane on the carrier thaneight or nine hands do when they have to pick it up from the ground insmall quantities and bring it to the carrier, as heretofore; and thecane, being nearer to the carrier, will not require as many hands to putit on.

Small loads are taken by the trucks, or larger ones in dividedquantities, and with a much less number of mules to draw the same,

each truck holding, say, about five hundred pounds of cane, and as theagregate load of a series of trucks would be divided over an extendedsurface there would not be that straining of the animals or liability ofthe load to stick in the mud that occurs with heavily-loaded carts orwagons the weight of which is borne on one or two points.

The readiness with which the roadway and trucks may be taken apart andbe removed or put in position (two men being sufficient to handle eachroad-section) and the direction of the roadway be changed as requiredare important considerations.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the removable bodies t'of the trucks with the frames d d c e 0, wheels ff, braces g g, andangle-iron pieces h h, arranged to form pockets for the reception of thebodies i within them, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with the side and crosssills, cl (1,0 0, and e ofthe frame of either truck, of the bar 75, having open mouth ends I I,essentially as specified.

RUDOLPH BAUMGARTNER.

Witnesses:

ROBERT J. KER, JOHN W. HENO.

